Supplier management for housing associations

Housing associations depend on contractors for the things tenants care about most: repairs, gas and electrical safety, fire safety, lifts, damp and mould, and major works. When a contractor slips, the landlord is still responsible. Add the Regulator of Social Housing's standards, leaseholder consultation and, for many associations, the Procurement Act 2023, and supplier records become part of your regulatory evidence. This page is written for registered providers in England.

What's different for housing associations

Safety work is done by suppliers, but the duty stays with you. Gas safety checks, electrical inspections, fire risk assessments, water hygiene and lift inspections are usually contracted out. You need to know each contractor is competent, insured and doing the work on time.
Repair timescales are now law for some hazards. Your response contractors' performance directly affects whether you meet them.
Leaseholders have consultation rights on long-term agreements and major works.
Boards and auditors want clean records: who approved each contractor, what conflicts were declared and whether the contract was competed.

The rules and expectations that apply

The Regulator of Social Housing's standards

Registered providers must meet the Regulator of Social Housing's standards. The Governance and Financial Viability Standard expects providers to comply with all relevant law, manage risk effectively and have adequate internal controls, which includes how contractors are chosen, managed and paid. Since 1 April 2024, four consumer standards apply, including the Safety and Quality Standard, which expects homes to be safe and of good quality and providers to meet their health and safety duties. The regulator now inspects larger providers against the consumer standards.

Awaab's Law

The Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025, known as Awaab's Law, came into force on 27 October 2025. In this first phase, social landlords must investigate emergency hazards and make them safe within 24 hours, and investigate significant damp and mould hazards within 10 working days, with set timescales for the written summary and for starting safety works. Amending regulations extend the requirements to further hazards from 30 November 2026. If repairs contractors respond for you, their contracts, service levels and reporting need to match these timescales.

Leaseholder consultation

Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 requires consultation with leaseholders before entering a qualifying long-term agreement (generally one lasting more than 12 months where any leaseholder would pay more than £100 a year) or carrying out qualifying works costing any leaseholder more than £250. Skipping it can limit what you can recover through the service charge. Record the consultation stage and dates against the contract.

Procurement Act 2023

Many housing associations are treated as contracting authorities. Government guidance on the definition notes that, for registered providers of social housing, oversight by the Regulator of Social Housing can count as public authority oversight. If the Act applies to you, contracts at or above the threshold follow its full rules. Check with our Procurement Act checker and your adviser.

What to check with your contractors

Contractor	Typical checks
All contractors	Companies House, insurance (public and employers' liability), health and safety policy, conflicts of interest declared, bank details verified by call-back
Gas	Gas Safe registration for each engineer, with expiry
Electrical	Registration with a competent person scheme, qualified inspectors
Fire safety	Competence of fire risk assessors, accreditation where you require it
Repairs and damp and mould	Response times written into the contract that match Awaab's Law, reporting you can check
Anyone in tenants' homes	Identity badges, DBS checks where they work with vulnerable residents, data protection terms
Major works and long-term agreements	Section 20 consultation stage and dates, CDM duties for construction work

Where to start in SupplierVault

Choose the Housing associations starter set-up, or tick "Housing association" in Settings at any time. Then:

Each supplier records whether it's connected to a board member or staff member, when it was declared to the board and who approved it, and purchase requests to a connected supplier are held until that's recorded.
The Facilities compliance pack covers insurance, health and safety, risk assessments and method statements, asbestos and trade registrations such as Gas Safe, with expiry dates tracked on each supplier (Professional plan and above).
Scorecards and reviews track contractors against their service levels (Professional plan and above).
Switch on the Procurement Act 2023 module to track the Act's notices and duties for each contract.
Give your auditor read-only access that ends on a date you choose, with every view logged.

Every setting can be changed afterwards. SupplierVault records the evidence; your board and advisers decide what applies.

Useful guides and tools

Sources

Regulatory standards for landlords (Regulator of Social Housing, GOV.UK)
The Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025 (legislation.gov.uk)
Awaab's Law: guidance for social landlords (GOV.UK)
Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, section 20 (legislation.gov.uk)
Procurement Act 2023 guidance: contracting authority definition (GOV.UK)

Free toolDoes the Procurement Act 2023 apply to us?Plain-language steps through contracting authority types, thresholds and exemptions, with links to the official guidance.TemplateSupplier audit checklistHow to plan a supplier audit, what to test and what to do with the findings.Who it's forSupplier management for charitiesConflicts of interest, connected parties, payment fraud and partners who spend your money, handled the way trustees and the Charity Commission expect.